History ComicBook / JourneyIntoMystery

The series was cancelled again with Issue 655, but as part of the ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'' event series in 2019, ''Journey Into Mystery'' returned as a five-issue limited series tie-in written by [[Creator/McElroyBrothers The McElroys]]. This miniseries involved the likes of [[Characters/UltimateSpiderManMilesMorales Miles Morales]], [[Characters/HawkeyeKateBishop Kate Bishop]], ComicBook/WonderMan, and more as they search for Thor's secret baby sister to end the war.

The series was cancelled again with Issue 655, but as part of the ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'' event series in 2019, ''Journey Into Mystery'' returned as a five-issue limited series tie-in written by [[Creator/McElroyBrothers The McElroys]]. This miniseries involved the likes of ComicBook/MilesMorales, ComicBook/KateBishop, ComicBook/WonderMan, and more as they search for Thor's secret baby sister to end the war.

!!Tropes featured in the early anthology stories:

* BackFromTheDead: The Norse gods discover they are targeted by Set, the Egyptian God of the Dead. They travel to his country and are attacked by two people Set's mooks had killed. They bring one, Red Norvell, back to the land of the living by the expedient of grabbing him and dragging him back with them.

* TearsFromAStone: Loki is fated to remain [[TakenForGranite imprisoned in a tree trunk]] until his plight causes someone to shed a tear. The people of Asgard are perfectly capable of crying--just not for Loki. However, Loki's long imprisonment eventually allows him to take control of the tree and make it drop a leaf into Heimdall's eye, causing him to shed a tear.

----

->"''You are not as wicked as they think.''"
->"''I'd have to try terribly hard to be '''that''' terrible.''"
-->-- Conversation between Thor and kid Loki.

It has been revived as a separate title a few times since then from 1972 to 1975 as an AnthologyComic, and again in the 1990s replacing Thor's book with issue #503, following the Heroes Reborn relaunch of key Marvel properties from 1996 to 1998. Finally the most recent revival of the series was during the ComicBook/FearItself event and relaunch of Thor's book as ComicBook/TheMightyThor in 2010 starting with issue 622.

From issues 622-645, the main character changed from Thor to his newly-reincarnated brother, Loki. Issue 646 started a new arc focusing on Lady Sif, and lasted to Issue 655.

As part of the ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'' event series in 2019, ''Journey Into Mystery'' returned as a five-issue limited series tie-in written by [[Creator/McElroyBrothers The McElroys]], involving the likes of ComicBook/MilesMorales, ComicBook/KateBishop, ComicBook/WonderMan, and more as they search for Thor's secret baby sister to end the war.

!!Tropes featured in this work:

!!!Early anthology stories

!!!Creator/KieronGillen's Run (Issues 622-645):
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/journey_into_mystery_623_6495.jpg]]

* AdmiringTheAbomination: When Loki releases [[spoiler: Surtur]], he makes sure to take a photo of him with his Starkphone
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Leah makes no secret of her attraction to Daimon. Her reasoning is that ''everyone'' likes a bad boy.
** It includes Hel-Puppies too!
--> '''Kid Loki''': I'm a bad boy!
--> '''Leah''': Not ''actual'' boys.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Surprisingly, Loki actually plays this trope straight for Leah. [[spoiler: Well, for Leah, at least]]
%%* AmnesiacsAreInnocent
* BelligerentSexualTension: Loki and Leah have a bit of this dynamic
* BigBad: First arc of Kid Loki's run starts with [[Comicbook/FearItself Serpent]] as BiggerBad and sets up Surtur and Mephisto for rest of the story. [[spoiler: Turns out they all were pawns of Old Loki]].
* BookEnds: Kid Loki's arc of the series begins and ends with a confrontation between old Loki and young Loki in the space hidden in the dot of the question mark.
** Also, the covers of Journey Into Mystery 623 and Journey Into Mystery 645 (the second and last issues of the run) are inversions of one another.
** Journey Into Mystery 622 starts with the line, "In the end, many of the answers ended up being 'Loki'." Journey Into Mystery 645 starts with the same phrase, only [[TheEndOfTheBeginning "the end" is replaced with "the beginning".]]
* BreakingTheFourthWall: At one point, Loki grabs the narration boxes and tears them up [[spoiler: but this is actually a subversion, as later it's revealed that the narrator of the story is an actual character in-story]].
** Loki also directly addresses the audience a few times in the last chapter.
* BreakTheCutie: UpToEleven.
* BrickJoke: Early in the run, there is a bit of narration that refers to Leah as Hela's left hand, in contrast to Tyr being Hela's right. [[spoiler: Turns out that she is ''literally'' Hela's hand, although the artists never seem to agree on whether it's her left or her right]]
** In ''Journey Into Mystery'' 625, Loki is dealing with the aftermath of bringing some dire news to Hela. When he recives worse news, he reports to her handmaiden Leah, who tells him he "already brought" dire news, so he corrects himself with "Dire-er news!" Almost at the end of the issue, he runs up to Hela and Mephisto, who are having Parley, and loudly declares "DIRE-EST NEWS!" and Hela looks exasperated.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: In the recap of issue #632, Ikol and Loki are the ones in charge of giving a summary of past events in the series:
-->'''Ikol:''' What about Odin's brother, the Serpent, attempting to rule the world through fear itself? And Odin almost killing everyone to stop him?
-->'''Kid Loki:''' Fixed it. A Tuesday afternoon trifle.
* CentralTheme: Change is good. The new is good. [[spoiler: But this is a single run in a single series that is part of a huge mainstream comic continuity, so it's never going to last.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The Fear Crown
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: the Leah that Loki wrote into the Serpent's ''story'' in issue 629]]
** Also, [[spoiler: remember the Teller from the 626.1 issue that didn't seem to have anything to do with anything? Yeah, he's actually super important to the plot]]
* ChronicVillainy: [[spoiler: Old Loki / Ikol in the end]]
* ContinuityNod: Hela explicitly references the time she sent adult Loki into the past to engineer his own adoption.
* CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen: Loki wrote [[spoiler:Leah]] into the Serpent's biography, thus creating a copy of her accidentally.
* CreatorCameo: Gillen himself appears in one panel while Loki and Leah are meeting Daimon Hellstrom in a pub during the "Manchester Gods" arc.
* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler: The Teller, i.e. the narrator of our tale.]]
* DownerEnding: To kid Loki's story.
* EatTheEvidence: Facetiously suggested in the first issue.
-->'''Volstagg:''' I could ''eat'' Loki. There would be no evidence. A perfect crime!
* EtTuBrute: When [[spoiler: Thori]] betrays Loki, Loki gets pretty broken up about it.
* FacePalm: Leah does this frequently around Loki.
* FakeDefector: Loki does this a few times.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: What happens to kid Loki in the end.]]
* {{Foil}}: Loki identifies quite a bit with the hel-puppy that he names Thori since they're both supposedly unalterably evil beings. The difference between them is [[spoiler: Thori loves being what he is and happily reverts to form the first chance he gets, while Loki does everything he can to avoid his fate.]]
* GainaxEnding: [[WordofGod Gillen]] had to post an explanation of what had happened in the ending on his tumblr, because at least half the fanbase didn't understand what had just occurred.
* GambitPileup: There are a variety of different factions competing against one another in Journey into Mystery.[[spoiler: However, this is notable as probably being one of the few cases where a character competes against HIMSELF. Which became his new status quo of questionable godliness after this series.]]
* GuileHero: Kid Loki.
* HeroicSacrifice: Subverted with [[spoiler: Thori]], played straight with [[spoiler: the Manchester Gods]] and later [[spoiler: kid Loki]]
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler: What Kid Loki does to save everyone from Mephisto]]
* HopeSpot: At the end of the Everything Burns crossover with The Mighty Thor, [[spoiler: they've succeeded in defeating Surtur, Loki's been definitively given Thor's trust, the Nine Realms know that it was Loki who saved them, Leah's back (sort of) and they're all going to live happily ever after. JUST KIDDING Mephisto has the Fear Crown and Loki has to annihilate himself to get rid of it.]]
** [[spoiler: Loki's "Damn me" on the final page could be seen as a hope spot. As far as character development goes, being able to admit that he is at fault is absolutely huge for Loki and it indicates that Kid Loki's final words have achieved something significant. Unfortunately he quickly follows it up with a more standard "Damn you all" indicating a return to his old self. Later series confirmed that: no, he didn't return to his old self, and is quite determined to ''not'' become like that again, for his misfortune many ''many'' people want him to.]]
* LittleMissSnarker: Leah
* MagpiesAsPortents: The magpie rhyme is an overarching theme - the run begins with a group of magpies on a quest through the Nine Realms after old Loki's death, and the remnant of evil Loki takes the form of a magpie to follow Loki around.
* MemoryGambit: Loki's reason for creating kid Loki via his resurrection without his memories in the first place. [[spoiler: He sets himself up with a new, baggage-free life in order to regain trust among those that wouldn't before for one of his own schemes that would allow 'him' to change, all the while setting things up to create a situation that would force kid Loki to take on his personality. Kid Loki claims victory in that he "dies" knowing he ''did'' change, while the original Loki setting up this scheme in the first place proves he never will. And it later turned out that the scheme resulted in a ''new'' Loki, who takes after both of them, but is neither of them. Shouldn't the guy be called Loki Lokison by this point?]]
* MetaFiction: Very much so.
--> '''Loki: We all know how this story ends.'''
* MoodWhiplash: This quote about sums it up:
-->'''Journey Into Mystery: A comedy in 30 parts (or a tragedy in 31)'''
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: This is Loki's reaction after seeing the [[spoiler: Manchester Gods]] working with Surtur.
** [[spoiler: After taking over his younger self's body, Loki's last lines in 645 of "Damn me." seem to imply this. Unfortunately, he follows it up with "[[WhamLine Damn you all]]." Later series confirmed that: Yes, he really does blame himself for this.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the Everything Burns arc, everything that Loki did in the earlier arcs comes around to bite him in the ass. "My predicament has become ''terribly'' on the nose."
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Master Wilson, the leader of the Manchester Gods, is a fusion of famed Manchester music scene personality [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Wilson Tony Wilson]] and Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Every good thing Loki does ends up screwing him over down the line.
--> '''Ikol: ''Humans'' see groups of magpies. Magpies don't. Magpies know they stand alone. ... There is only ''ever'' one for sorrow.'''
* NoShirtLongJacket: Hellstrom. "A guy's got a certain reputation", after all.
* RewritingReality: Loki created a chance to win against the Serpent by forging his biography. Not only did he need to get access to said book but [[spoiler:also required a special pen (the shadow of Surtur's sword), and ink (Leah's blood)]] to pull this stunt off.
* RunningGag: Daimon is never going to put on a shirt, Loki.
* ScrewDestiny: What kid Loki is trying to do in being a hero instead of a villain. [[spoiler: It's what adult Loki's trying, too, even though it is very heavily implied he is destined to fail.]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Despite everything he accomplished, the friends that he made and the respect and trust that he earned, kid Loki ends up being annihilated and replaced by old Loki with no one the wiser to his fate. Sure, he won in that he was good, but it still means nothing in the long run. [[MetaFiction Because status quo is God in mainstream superhero comic books.]]]]
* StableTimeloop: [[spoiler: the second Leah was sent back in time and became Hela.]]
* StatusQuoIsGod: Kid Loki ceases to exist and the original Loki comes back.
* TalkingToThemself: Loki and Ikol, since Ikol doesn't really exist in the physical world.]]
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Everything always comes back to being Loki's fault.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: "Hellstrom! What's wrong? Do you need anything? A shirt perhaps?"
* WhamEpisode: Issue 641 [[spoiler: Leah's goodbye and Surtur being revealed behind the Manchester Gods that Loki just helped.]]
** Issue 643 [[spoiler: Leah is revealed to be the Leah that Loki wrote into the Serpent's story, and then Loki tells her that he's sick of being hated and mistrusted by the Asgardians, that he resents Thor for bringing him back to them, that he honestly is upset about what happened to Leah and wants to help her, and that he wants to let everyone burn in Surtur's fires. And ''then'' he dumps Thor into a lake of lava. It turned out later he hadn't really switched sides, but he still dumped Thor in the lava and (probably) wasn't even lying about most of what he told her.]]
* WhamLine:
** When the Herald of Surtur reveals their identity to the readers. [[spoiler: "Leah of Hel knows Loki's character better than her own."]]
** And a few issues later, from the same person no less: [[spoiler: "Ikol. The bird. You know he doesn't exist outside your head."]]
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Loki and Leah. In fact, he once figured out when someone was impersonating her due to the fake Leah being too nice.
* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Loki/Ikol's is kind of the most brilliant]]
* XanatosSpeedChess: How kid Loki and some of his enemies usually do battle.
* YouBastard: In the final panel of Gillen's run, Loki [[spoiler: looks directly at the reader while saying "Damn you all."]] This is very much in line with the book's {{Deconstruction}} of StatusQuoIsGod.

!!!Kathryn Immonen's Run (Issues 646-655):
[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jim2_2592.png]]
[[caption-width-right:230:Verily, can you dig it?]]

* AloofBigBrother: Heimdall to Sif.
* AmicableExes: Beta Ray Bill and Sif, aside from some bickering. [[spoiler:Justified, given that Bill's girlfriend just died.]]
* AnchoredShip: Sif still has some feelings for Bill, and while they've acknowledged their past relationship, he's astutely devoted to Ti Asha Ra. [[spoiler: Sif helps reunite the couple after she saves Lady Gaea from a mysterious infection.]]
* BackForTheDead: Beta Ray Bill's girlfriend Ti Asha Ra is brought back in issue 653, only to die.!
** [[spoiler: She comes back again in #654, only to be revealed that something or someone planted Bill's ship AI in her body when his ship crashed.]]
** [[spoiler: She comes back for good alongside a healed Lady Gaea in #655 and a cube housing Skuttlebutt.]]
* BullyingADragon: Sif literally does this to a dragon like creature in issue 646.
** Issue 647 has other examples such as a bar patron attempting to get physical with Sif [[spoiler: and Sif battling her near Odin level powered brother Heimdall. ]]
* TheCameo: Kids dressed like [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Kyle, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny]] are [[http://i.imgur.com/GqEzsYM.jpg among those]] that play with Sif in a snowball fight.
* CentralTheme: Sif's run seems to continue on theme of change, though Sif herself believes that change leads to decadence from past glory.
* CurbStompBattle: Sif in nearly all of her fights in the first arc including a severe one to [[spoiler: Fandral.]]
* DirtyKid: Hilde, who simply grins with pleasure upon seeing a fully naked Thor out of bed in the middle of a situation while everyone else [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn covers their eyes.]]
* ForTheEvulz: Svip was revealed to have killed most of his own men for his own amusement and tried to attack Broxton simply to satisfy his thirst for battle.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Sif and [[spoiler:Thor.]]
* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Volstagg's kids, whose sharp comments on their own culture make Sif question their society's current path.
* LadyOfWar: Lady Sif.
* ModestyBedsheet: Even when Thor is in the middle of combat wearing nothing but a bedsheet around his waist, it never comes off.
* MythologyGag: The Monsters that appear in issue 649 of the first arc are actually taken from pre-Thor anthology issues of Journey into Mystery original 1960s run.
* PapaWolf: Volstagg.
* TheMissusAndTheEx: Sif and Jane crack a few puns at Thor's expense when Sif comes to see Jane for medical advice about Lady Gaea.
* TheSnarkKnight: [[spoiler: '[[BloodKnight Berserker]]' Sif]] loves to tear into foes verbally as well as physically.
** The ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan guest stars and obviously shows his own talents.
* TricksterMentor: Aerndis the witch, her 'Berserker' spell only loosened [[spoiler:Sif's normal restraints and everything was just meant to show Sif that the defenders of Asgard were not weaker then those of the past, enemies had just become craftier. ]]
* UnresolvedSexualTension: The summaries for the Seed of Destruction arc indicate that this will occur between Sif and [[spoiler:Beta Ray Bill.]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Poor Rro turns out to become this for UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}}.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: [[spoiler: A big theme in Sif's first arc, thanks to the [[ForbiddenFruit Berserker Spell]] power up she gets in the first issue. ]]
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: 'Berserker' Sif.]]
----

* TwilightZoneTwist: A really bizarre and rather silly example in the short story interlude "The Big Shoes". It involved a shoe store clerk being disgruntled by indecisive customers deciding to get revenge by lacing all the shoes with a serum from a MadScientist friend that'll enlarge their feet too big to wear any shoes. Perpetrating his scheme during a holiday sale for maximum effectiveness, he leaves the store to enjoy the looks of horror on all their faces as they suffer their transformation, before getting a look of horror on his own face when he sees all those giant feet start panic stampeding his way, crushing him beneath them.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Surprisingly, Loki actually plays this trope straight for Leah. [[spoiler: Well, for Herald!Leah, at least]]
* AmnesiacsAreInnocent

* [[spoiler: DownerEnding: To Kid!Loki's story]]

* [[HeroicSuicide Heroic Self-Annihilation]]: [[spoiler: What Kid Loki does to save everyone from Mephisto]]

* [[PunnyName Punny Job Description]]: [[spoiler: Leah is Hela's '''hand'''maiden.]]

* [[spoiler: ShootTheShaggyDog: Despite everything he accomplished, the friends that he made and the respect and trust that he earned, kid Loki ends up being annihilated and replaced by old Loki with no one the wiser to his fate. Sure, he won in that he was good, but it still means nothing in the long run. [[MetaFiction Because status quo is God in mainstream superhero comic books.]]]]

* [[spoiler: StatusQuoIsGod]]: It is a comic, after all.
* [[spoiler: TalkingToThemself: Loki and Ikol, since Ikol doesn't really exist in the physical world.]]

** Issue 643 [[spoiler: Herald!Leah is revealed to be the Leah that Loki wrote into the Serpent's story, and then Loki tells her that he's sick of being hated and mistrusted by the Asgardians, that he resents Thor for bringing him back to them, that he honestly is upset about what happened to Leah and wants to help her, and that he wants to let everyone burn in Surtur's fires. And ''then'' he dumps Thor into a lake of lava. It turned out later he hadn't really switched sides, but he still dumped Thor in the lava and (probably) wasn't even lying about most of what he told her.]]

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Old!Loki/Ikol's is kind of the most brilliant]]
* XanatosSpeedChess: How Kid!Loki and some of his enemies usually do battle.

* [[spoiler:BackForTheDead: Beta Ray Bill's girlfriend Ti Asha Ra is brought back in issue 653, only to die.]]

* MagicSkirt[=/=]ModestyBedsheet: Even when Thor is in the middle of combat wearing nothing but a bedsheet around his waist, it never comes off.

* [[spoiler:TricksterMentor: Aerndis the witch, her 'Berserker' spell only loosened Sif's normal restraints and everything was just meant to show Sif that the defenders of Asgard were not weaker then those of the past, enemies had just become craftier. ]]

** AnchoredShip: Sif still has some feelings for Bill, and while they've acknowledged their past relationship, he's astutely devoted to Ti Asha Ra. [[spoiler: Sif helps reunite the couple after she saves Lady Gaea from a mysterious infection.]]

* [[spoiler: MemoryGambit: Old!Loki's reason for creating Kid!Loki via his resurrection without his memories in the first place. He sets himself up with a new, baggage-free life in order to regain trust among those that wouldn't before for one of his own schemes that would allow 'him' to change, all the while setting things up to create a situation that would force Kid!Loki to take on his personality. Kid!Loki claims victory in that he "dies" knowing he ''did'' change, while Old!Loki setting up this scheme in the first place proves he never will. And it later turned out that the scheme resulted in a ''new'' Loki, who takes after both of them, but is neither of them. Shouldn't the guy be called Loki Lokison by this point?]]

* ABoyAndHisX: Loki and Thori, a boy and his (Half Hell Hound) dog!
** Or, a boy and his magpie-shaped evil former self.

-->-- Conversation between kid Loki and Thor.

Because all the books under this name are part of the ''[[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]]'' family, all characters from all series can be found [[Characters/TheMightyThor here]]

From issues 622-645, the main character changed from Thor to his newly-reincarnated brother, Selfdemonstrating/{{Loki}}. Issue 646 started a new arc focusing on Lady Sif, and lasted to Issue 655.

* [[spoiler: MemoryGambit: Old!Loki's reason for creating Kid!Loki via his resurrection without his memories in the first place. He sets himself up with a new, baggage-free life in order to regain trust among those that wouldn't before for one of his own schemes that would allow 'him' to change, all the while setting things up to create a situation that would force Kid!Loki to take on his personality. Kid!Loki claims victory in that he "dies" knowing he ''did'' change, while Old!Loki setting up this scheme in the first place proves he never will.]]

* GambitPileup: There are a variety of different factions competing against one another in Journey into Mystery.[[spoiler: However, this is notable as probably being one of the few cases where a character competes against HIMSELF.]]

** [[spoiler: Loki's "Damn me" on the final page could be seen as a hope spot. As far as character development goes, being able to admit that he is at fault is absolutely huge for Loki and it indicates that Kid Loki's final words have achieved something significant. Unfortunately he quickly follows it up with a more standard "Damn you all" indicating a return to his old self.]]

** [[spoiler: After taking over his younger self's body, Loki's last lines in 645 of "Damn me." seem to imply this. Unfortunately, he follows it up with "[[WhamLine Damn you all]]."]]

* RewritingReality: Loki created a chance to win against the Serpent by forging his biography. Not only did he need to get access to said book but [[spoiler:also required a special pen (shadow of Surtur's sword), and ink (Leah's blood)]] to pull this stunt off.

From issues 622-645, the main character changed from Thor to his newly-reincarnated brother, ComicBook/{{Loki}}. Issue 646 started a new arc focusing on Lady Sif, and lasted to Issue 655.

* WhamLine: When the Herald of Surtur reveals their identity to the readers. [[spoiler: "Leah of Hel knows Loki's character better than her own."]]

From issues 622-645, the main character changed from Thor to his newly-reincarnated brother, ComicBook/{{Loki}}. Issue 646 starts a new arc focusing on Lady Sif. It lasted to Issue 655.

* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler: The Teller, i.e. the narrator of our tale.]]

* {{Foil}}: Loki identifies quite a bit with the hel-puppy that he names Thori since they're both supposedly unalterably evil beings. The difference between them is [[spoiler: Thori loves being what he is and happily reverts to form the first chance he gets, while Loki does everything he can to avoid his fate]]

* GambitPileup: There are a variety of different factions competing against one another in Journey into Mystery[[spoiler: however this is notable as probably being one of the few cases where a character competes against HIMSELF]]

--->'''Journey Into Mystery: A comedy in 30 parts (or a tragedy in 31)'''

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the Everything Burns arc, everything that Loki did in the earlier arcs comes around to bite him in the ass. "My predicament has become ''terribly'' on the nose."

** He also posted [[http://kierongillen.tumblr.com/post/31402242170/they-want-more-britney-spears-the-music this]] directly after issue 643 came out.